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Burnley: 30 **AND** 45 degree walls now open 12-May-2006 At 11:12:25 AM climbingjac

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Hi all,

Glueing stone holds on a concrete wall has its associated fuss. Cutting the back off the rock to make it flat. Grinding back paintwork on the wall. Preparing the surface. Mixing messy epoxy resin. Putting hold on the wall. Trying to get the darn thing to stay there while the glue dries… As I mentioned in a previous post, we are not 100% satisfied with the stability of the glueup solution and as such the vertical wall will be wooden as per the other walls.

Getting a stone hold onto a wooden wall has a separate set of fuss. You've still got to get the back of the hold flat. You've got to try and get a bolt hole through it without cutting your fingers off, and without shattering the hold. And after all that, you've created a lovely hold that spins a lot on the wall. All in all, it is far cheaper in terms of both dollars and time to get a resin hold.

Now for the old Burnley holds: There was so much glue, concrete chunks, rusty bolts through the middle of them it was not a manageable task trying to revamp them ready for service on the new walls. While it would be nice to hang on to nostalgia, I'll tell you right now that if we tried, you'd be lucky to get a third of the volume of holds on the wall that we plan to give you.

Now for the easy route argument.

We are creating three walls that in general are supposed to cater for everyone. The vertical wall will cater for newbies and people not keen on steepness. The 30 and 45 walls cater for everyone else. Both strong and not so strong climbers. Please find below an inventory of the routes already on the wall, and those definitely scheduled to go on within the next 2 weeks:

Black 18
Pink 22
White 23 or lower (scheduled)
Green 23
Pink 24
Purple 24
Yellow 25
Yellow 25
Stone 25
Red 26
Blue 29

Plus some up problems. Plus an absolute truckload of extra holds so you can design your own adventure.

I do not make decisions on what goes on the walls by myself. I have a panel of "advisors" that I consult with about the matter.

The old Burnley offered one route at say grade 25. We have provided 5 routes below this grade. We can't plaster the walls with only hard routes, as people not strong enough to climb them would be left out. Conversely, we can't plaster it with only easier routes, as the stronger people would not be catered for. So we've gone 50/50 down the middle as per the above. Over and above that, what's wrong with having a session where you'll design your own problems? Try to remember more holds get added each week, and that I have a good collection of jugs in random colours still waiting in the shadows to get put up on the wall. The wall will be so covered in holds by the time we're done with it, it shall be almost ridiculous. We cannot add the holds all at once – it has to be done incrementally.

The "panel of advisors" feel that yes, it is great to provide a kit of routes. But then we should fill the wall with random stuff so you can make up your own problems. Otherwise we face a scenario where people don't get creative about making up their own problems, and complain that they are tired of the routes already after only a couple of months, and want them changed over…

Thoughts people?

Jacqui Middleton
Burnley Project